92% of nurses say their hospital has no plans in place to properly equip isolation rooms during Ebola outbreak
by: J. D. Heyes
NaturalNews.com
Thursday, October 30, 2014
A national nursing union says it has been hearing from healthcare professionals all around the country since the Dallas Ebola outbreak, and most say their hospitals are simply not equipped or prepared to handle anyone who may contract the disease.
National Nurses United, which held a conference call with nurses recently to discuss the outbreak and hospital and staff preparedness, said it has been fielding calls from RNs around the country who have been voicing such concerns. The conference call occurred after one nurse, Nina Pham, 26, of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, contracted the disease while treating the first Ebola patient diagnosed on U.S. soil, Thomas Eric Duncan. Another nurse, Amber Joy Vinson, has since tested positive for the disease as well.
According to a press release from the organization, the NNU has called on all hospitals to enact “the highest standard of optimal protection,” which includes keeping HAZMAT suits on hand and bolstering hands-on training to protect nurses and healthcare staff if they have to deal with patients who have Ebola.
‘There is no standard short of optimal protection’
The group said more than 4,000 RNs had signed up to participate in the conference call, which provided them with an opportunity to ask questions and discuss what their hospitals were or were not doing to improve safety for their hospital staff and for patients, as well as the communities they serve.
“There is no standard short of optimal in protective equipment and hands-on-training that is acceptable,” said RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, which is the largest U.S. organization of nurses.
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